The Measurement of Electrical Conductivity as a Method of Investigation in Plant Physiology.

Development of electrical conductivity measurement technology for key plant physiological information using microneedle sensor

“…The cell constants obtained using the COMSOL simulation tool and equation (3) are slightly different. This is because in equation (3), the fringe effect between the number N of fingers is considered, which results in a cell constant that is lower than that obtained by considering the total electrode area…”

“…The fringing effect of the electric field also needs to be taken into account when the spacing between the planar electrodes is large, leading to accurate consideration of the effective area. The overall capacitance, the cell constant (κ cell ) of planar interdigitated electrodes with the given parameters, can be expressed as in equation (3).…”

“…However, because of the varying growth conditions under which each experiment was conducted, the reported threshold values could not be generalized [1,2]. Furthermore, the EC value could be measured only after full growth of the fruit or by sacrificing the plant stem [3,4]. To overcome this problem, direct measurement from the plant itself is needed.…”

Studies in Permeability

“…When the conductivity increases in Osterhout’s experiments, he considers the increase to be due to the higher penetrating power of the ions owing to a change in permeability, but he neglects the necessary effect of this, the diffusion of electrolytes between the inner and external phases of the system. 1 We have elsewhere ( 23 ) pointed out the complex character of plant tissue in regard to electrical conductivity, and that a change of conductivity may be due to a variety of different causes. 2 Osterhout’s method, moreover, in its present form, is applicable to so very few cases, adapted as it is to marine Algae only.…”